Thursday, October 01, 2009

Here are a few of the top stories on mountain lions from recent news articles. For more frequent updates, visit MountainLion.org and read the news daily.

ND Reports Season's 1st Mountain Lion Killed

The North Dakota Game & Fish Department's habitat studies concluded that the state could possibly support 45 to 74 lions, but did not have an estimate of how many lions were actually in North Dakota. Yet, four years ago they removed the protected status and began allowing trophy hunting. September opened this year's season and the first lion has already been killed.

After voters banned the use of hounds in cougar trophy hunting, Oregon continued to find new ways to justify killing the large cats in addition to the regular hunting season quota. One of these - a three-year study of killing cougars to reduce public fear and complaints - is finally coming to an end because researchers claim they have not been able to kill enough cougars to see results. A person has never been fatally attacked by a cougar in the state, and it is unclear how they expected to reduce risks any more than that. However, the state Department of Fish & Wildlife is pushing to expand their cougar hunting project but this time with the objective of increasing deer and elk herds. So far, these cougar studies have spent more than $300,000.

A trail camera snapped a photo of a lion dragging a deer on a ranch in Texas, and since then the photo has been circulated all over the country mostly through emails and posted on various websites (see it here, there, this site, or even this article). With claims that it has been taken any where from Oklahoma to Pennsylvania, it is just another simple reminder that mountain lion stories are often blown way out of proportion. Confirm the source before you pass it on and always feel free to contact MLF for more information.